BILL NUMBER: AB 1951 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 784
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2012
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2012
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 22, 2012
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Atkins
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to amend Sections 50705, 50708, and 53545.9 of, and to
repeal Section 50707 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to
housing, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1951, Atkins. Housing bonds.
Existing law, the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of
2006, authorizes the issuance of bonds to finance various housing
programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield
cleanup that promotes infill development, housing-related parks, and
transit-oriented development programs. The act establishes the
Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund of 2006 in the State
Treasury and requires the sum of $1,500,000,000 to be deposited in
the Affordable Housing Account, which the act establishes in the
fund. The act continuously appropriates the money in the account in
accordance with a specified schedule that requires, among other
things, the transfer of the sum of $100,000,000 to the Affordable
Housing Innovation Fund, which the act establishes in the State
Treasury, to be administered by the Department of Housing and
Community Development. Existing law requires the funds in the
Affordable Housing Innovation Fund to be allocated in the amount of
$50,000,000 for the Affordable Housing Revolving Development and
Acquisition Program, of which $25,000,000 would be made available to
the Loan Fund and $25,000,000 would be made available to the
Practitioner Fund; $5,000,000 for the Construction Liability
Insurance Reform Pilot Program; $35,000,000 for a local housing trust
fund matching grant program established under a specified provision
of existing law; and $10,000,000 for the Innovative Homeownership
Program.
This bill would repeal the provisions relating to the Practitioner
Fund and make conforming changes. This bill would delete the
provisions establishing the Construction Liability Insurance Reform
Pilot Program. The bill would delete the provisions that require
$50,000,000 be allocated from the fund to the Affordable Housing
Revolving Development and Acquisition Program, and, instead, require
that $25,000,000 be allocated from the fund to the Affordable Housing
Revolving Development and Acquisition Program. The bill would
transfer $30,000,000 from the fund to a newly created subaccount
within the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund, and would continuously
appropriate those funds to the department for the Multifamily Housing
Program, as specified.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 50705 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
50705. (a) The Affordable Housing Revolving Development and
Acquisition Program is hereby established for the purpose of funding
the acquisition of property to develop or preserve affordable
housing. The program will be comprised of a Loan Fund.
(b) The department shall adopt guidelines for the operation of the
program. The guidelines shall not be subject to the requirements of
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code. The department shall adopt
regulations for the program prior to issuing any request for
qualifications funded with loan repayments or any other sources.
SEC. 2. Section 50707 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. Section 50708 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
50708. The department shall collect all of the following from
each borrower and include a summary of this information in its last
annual report submitted to the Legislature on or before December 31,
2013, pursuant to Section 50408:
(a) A general description of activities undertaken pursuant to
this chapter.
(b) For each property acquired, the acquisition price; the amount
and terms of the nonstate funds leveraged, and a statement as to
whether the state acquisition funds were essential to the leveraging
of these other acquisition funds; a description of the expiration
date of the project's rent or sales restrictions; the number of
assisted units created or preserved; the amount of state funds
required for each assisted unit created or preserved; and the level
of affordability maintained.
(c) If any borrower sells any property acquired with assistance
through these state funds, a description of the name and location of
the purchaser, the purchase price, and the total transaction costs.
(d) An overall assessment of the effectiveness of these funds as
tools in creating and preserving affordable housing.
SEC. 4. Section 53545.9 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
53545.9. Of the one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000)
transferred to the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund established in
the State Treasury under subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 53545, the following amounts shall be
allocated as follows:
(a) The department shall make available the amount of twenty-five
million dollars ($25,000,000) for the Affordable Housing Revolving
Development and Acquisition Program established pursuant to Section
50705.
(b) The department shall make available the amount of thirty-five
million dollars ($35,000,000) for the local housing trust fund
matching grant program established under Section 50843.5. The
department shall make available 50 percent of this amount exclusively
for newly established housing trust funds.
(1) When awarding grants from the funds allocated under this
subdivision to existing trust funds, the department shall grant
preference to a housing trust fund that agrees to expend more than 65
percent of state funds for the purpose of downpayment assistance to
first-time homebuyers.
(2) When awarding grants from the funds allocated under this
subdivision to newly established housing trust funds, the department
shall set aside funding, for a period of 36 months from the date
funds are first made available, for newly established housing trust
funds that are in a county with a population of less than 425,000
persons, based on the decennial United States Census for the year
2000.
(3) (A) Notwithstanding any other law, funds set aside for newly
established housing trust funds shall be available for encumbrance
for 42 months after the date the funds are first made available and
disbursements in liquidation of the encumbrance shall be made before
or during 48 months after the date funds are first made available.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 53545, any funds not encumbered for newly
established housing trust funds within 42 months after the date the
funds are first made available shall revert to the Self-Help Housing
Fund created by Section 50697.1 and shall be available for the
purposes described in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 53545.
(c) The department shall make available the amount of ten million
dollars ($10,000,000) for the Innovative Homeownership Program, which
the department shall develop and implement as follows:
(1) The program shall be designed to increase or maintain
affordable homeownership opportunities for Californians with lower
incomes.
(2) The department shall adopt guidelines for the program that,
among other things, shall maximize the number of units assisted,
limit the expenditure of funds for administrative costs, and maximize
the leverage of public and private financing sources.
(3) The guidelines adopted by the department shall provide for the
issuance of a notice of funding availability soliciting competitive
proposals for the use of funds consistent with those guidelines and
with subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section
53545.
(4) The guidelines adopted by the department shall not be subject
to the requirements of Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(5) The department shall include within the annual report required
under Section 50408 a detailed summary and description of the manner
in which funds made available under this subdivision were expended
during the previous year and a statement regarding the manner in
which those expenditures meet the intent of the Legislature and the
voters that funds from the Innovative Housing Fund be expended in
support of innovative, cost-saving approaches to creating or
preserving affordable housing.
(d) (1) The amount of thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) is
transferred from the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund to a
subaccount, which is hereby created, within the Housing
Rehabilitation Loan Fund. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, the moneys transferred to the subaccount shall be
continuously appropriated to the department for the Multifamily
Housing Program authorized by Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section
50675) of Part 2 of Division 31.
(2) The department shall provide for the issuance of a notice of
funding availability soliciting competitive proposals for the use of
the funds appropriated in paragraph (1). The notice of funding
availability shall provide that the department will consider persons
with developmental disabilities, including, but not limited to, those
with autism, and homeless veterans as special needs populations for
purposes of granting bonus points to developments serving special
needs populations.